China gas and power month in brief: June 2016

What happened to China's gas demand recovery in May? With demand slowing markedly the key question is whether the May data was a blip or has the recovery run out of steam? We think weather was a key factor but attention will now turn to the June demand numbers to assess whether demand really is back on track. In the LNG sector the deal between Huadian and Sinopec that will see Huadian accessing the Tianjin regas terminal for up to 20 years has received surprisingly limited coverage. This is the first long term third party access deal in China and we believe is hugely significant for the way emerging buyers will be accessing the market going forwards. Elsewhere power market reform remains a hot topic with policy change continuing to push ahead.